You will Obay me. If you understand me.

For the last Public Relations Writing assignment we are to look into the OBAY ad campaign sponsored by Colleges Ontario.  I must admit, I had to read a few articles to fully understand the cleverness behind this campaign.  I guess the apparently obvious intellect behind the campaign didn’t jump out at me right away.  I had to do a little digging to find out what these posters were trying to tell me. 

[ But in my defence, the only time I saw this ad prior to the assignment was on the subway and I recall thinking “pffff… Obey this.”  I didn’t really give it the time of day. ]

Anyway, moving on. 

One article I came across suggested how the Obay campaign was all over the blogosphere, yet I had yet to come across it.  This could possibly be because I don’t avidly read too many blogs outside of my blogroll (which consists of a few friends from class).  However, I thought I would tell you my thoughts about this campaign regardless of it being all over the blogging world already.

 
After a little investigative work, it was made VERY clear what the parody of this campaign was.  As if a light shone down on me, I saw the appeal behind these ads.  The ways of the big pharma have been replicated, and mocked, by Colleges Ontario; along with the Canadian Law I might add. 

I say, “good for you Colleges Ontario.”

I agree with Colleges Ontario’s message, that university isn’t necessarily a better option than college.  I believe university can be a valuable experience for many, but not for all. 

Being a university graduate myself, I know the pressures some students face from their family about attending a particular school.  Thankfully, my family was supportive of whatever I chose to do, but not all are like that; and hence, the hypothetical need for Obay.

To me, the real zinger behind this campaign is the mockery of the Canadian Law regarding direct-to-consumer advertising.  But, I didn’t understand that until I found about the 1990 Health Canada regulation reinterpretation. 

[ May I point out I was six in 1990, so I have good reason to not recall this regulation change. ]

The ad is genius, but completely useless to me until Christine’s assignment came along and I found out what is was making fun of. 

I would expect the target audience of this campaign is pre-college applicants, but will they understand the true meaning of these ads?  They’ll be even younger than I am.  Some might have not even been born in 1990! 

I think this campaign is extremely cleaver and is a real poop disturber.  But I raise my eyebrow to the effectiveness it has with highschoolers.